Hinge Installation

I have always had a problem installing butt hinges. I can align them correctly with the jamb and door, but when it comes to drilling holes for the screws, that is where the problem comes in. I know the screw has to be perfectly centered in the hole in the hinge because if it is not centered, the countersink surface acts like a ramp and moves the hinge out of alignment. My question really boils down to how to get the hole perfectly centered? Before you all tell me to use a “centering punch”, that is what I always use. The punch I use has a lot of slop and the wood, typically soft wood, as in door frames, is too soft to permit the punch to center the mark. The punch always seems to follow the grain of the wood and results in an off-center mark. Is there a better punch available? I’ve thought about “Vix” bits, but maybe they would not be much better in guaranteeing a perfectly centered hole. Right now, I have no way of correcting the problem except for drilling a larger hole, inserting a dowel and trying to recenter the hole.

+1 NiteWalker.....insty drive hinge bits are essentially the same thing as vix bits…

I use vix bits….no issues as they put a perfectly centered pilot hole by using the chamfered hole of the hinge to guide the vix bit …they are sized by the screw…so they come in various sizes….see NiteWalker’s link

Take some brass screws that are the right size for the hinge you are mounting. file down two brass screws (the threaded ends) to sharp points. Mount one side of the hinge to the jamb normally.Take the brass screws that you filed to a point and put them in the other hinge holes from underneath so the points are sticking out. Close the hinge to trap the filed brass screws. Pointed end sticking out.Position the door and press it against the points to mark the screw locations.

This is how I do it, it’s hard to bore exactly in the middle, if the mortise for the hinge is exactly right, offer up the hinge tight against the long edge. Bore for one of the middle screws just a fraction closer to edge of the hinge and screw it on, so the countersunk screw head pulls the hinge tight up against the long edge of the mortise, do that on all the hinges, hang the door, any adjustments you need to make can then be done with the remaining screw holes. A brad point bit won’t wander, stick it in where you want to bore before pulling the trigger.